Sunday, June 01, 2008

Mom and Dad came up this weekend to hang out and work on a project, per the usual itinerary. We decided to replace the basement door to the garage and got so far as bringing home a 32" fire door Friday night. It's interesting that we went to the trouble of buying a 32" fire door when I needed a 36" fire door. That was the first sign that the project was in peril. After returning the wrong door and shopping around fruitlessly for the right one, we determined that this was not the weekend for the fire door project, and that the standard 36" door maybe isn't right after all. I'll custom order a fire door and save that project for another time.

So, what we did do was some electrical work. I have wanted to install lights on either side of the garage ever since I moved in. The best way to wire these new lights would be to put them on the switch that turns on the light outside the front door. I even planned ahead and bought lights that matched the one by the front door last year when I painted.

So we got 50' of household wiring and went to work. We cut a hole in the basement ceiling and fished the wire into the wall upstairs to the switch. Then fished the other end of the wire out through the basement ceiling joists and into the garage, through the cement block and stucco, and out to where the lights would go. Finally we mounted the lights and threw the switch. Piece of cake - a project started and finished in one day. Flippin sweet!

And you know what? This part just never gets old:

Before:

After:

OK, so that "before" picture is a little outdated, but you get the idea...